So there we were...* Deep in the heart of Texas in the midst of a very severe drought (somewhere around an inch of rain this year so far and we're about to enter the dry season). Yesterday a huge thunderstorm popped up and the radar return was pink and purple. Unfortunately it went south of Rancho Juvat and we got nothing.
It was a mist opportunity.
Thank you, thank you verr much. Be sure and tip the wait staff.
Been a pretty good week overall although I did get a bit of bad news. Went back to the ENT Doc for my post-meds follow up on my sinus infection. Part of the visit was a cat scan of my head. Apparently, my right maxillary sinus is nearly totally full of fluid. So they've got me scheduled on the 9th for a "procedure" to clear it. It involves a balloon up the nose and then inflated. I'll be sedated but awake.
Sounds like fun, don't it?
But the good news is MBD and MG came and stayed with Mrs. J and I for the past week. Pastor Bob is on a Men's retreat in Alabama. He, and they, will be back home as this post hits the web. But it has been fun, memory recovering, educational, family bonding in the interim.
MG is way more developed than the last time we saw her. She'll be 7 months in a couple of days. She's not talking yet, but is very vocal and does a pretty good job of communicating happiness or wet diapers/hunger. She's also able to stand up, but requires a bit of stabilization, so we're practicing that exercise in a lap with hands very close to her armpits.
This Grandparent gig is even more fun than my previous most fun gig (something dealing with altitude and hundreds of MPH). Besides, I doubt my current shape would stand the previous funnest gig.
But one of my "opportunities"to spread my Grandfatherly knowledge to my youngest relative was in showing her how to, and assisting her with, eating semi-solid food. In this case, a puree of apples, strawberries and beets. (No Beans, I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to try it myself.)
Things went swimmingly!
Even though she needed a bath and I a shower shortly thereafter, we both got a lot of laughs.
If the Olympics ever decide swimming should be conducted in a pool of a puree of apples, strawberries and beets, she's a shoe-in for a Gold.
UPDATE:
Had an interesting revelation about one of our restaurants that, pre-WuFlu, we'd frequently visit. The owners took advantage of the relative lack of customers to do some renovation and decorating. This was the first time in a long time that we ate inside (Tx gets hot, even in May). We had just ordered and I'm looking around when my eye catches this.
Astute Chant readers will immediately recognize the gentleman in the top left corner. And I was aware that Admiral Nimitz was born in the 'Burg and his family owned a hotel in town (which is now "The National Museum of the Pacific War" officially, and, locally, "The Nimitz Museum". Smithsonian quality museum, definitely a "must see" if in the area).
Anyhow, what I didn't know was the room I was sitting in was the room that Admiral Nimitz was actually born in. The Life article had been found in a closed off room when they were renovating and they decided to hang it for the folks that have an interest in such things.
I asked our waitress about it, she filled me in about the significance and told me a bit more that had been discovered.
This is the area we usually sit in when we visit this restaurant. Very relaxing. What the waitress told us was that BITD, the white building on the left behind the red umbrella was the Nimitz family's first home. The building across the breezeway to the right was the Nimitz' Butcher Shop. The Nimitz Museum is across the street and to the right as you leave that breezeway.
Little things like that, bring history to life. Or...It does for me.
Which pretty much ends the events of the week. Lots of fun.
But...As one might suspect from the post title, not everything went swimmingly.
Past posts with variations of this post's title can be found here and here. We've also had 2 near misses with regard to the oven/stove in our guest houses. The first of which, the guest was looking to toast some French Bread for dinner. Instead of looking in the drawer below the oven (an obvious place to store oven pots and pans), they used the plastic mat used under the dish rack to funnel water into the sink. Dried it off, put the bread on it and put it under the broiler. Didn't mention anything about it to us, but we do check around when we clean. Took us a very long time to clean the oven. They received a very low guest rating on our review of their stay.
Then there was the guy who got up early and wanted to make his wife some tea and serve it to her in bed. Didn't want to wake her up, so didn't turn on the lights. Grabbed the tea kettle, filled it full of water, put it on the stove and turned the burner on high. Went outside for a breath of air, came in a few minutes later to see the electric tea kettle with a plastic bottom was on fire. Fortunately, he kept his wits about him, grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. He then called us and explained what had happened and apologized profusely.
We had a couple of guests last week. A twosome, mother and daughter. Mom was in my age bracket, daughter was in my kid's. Spent a lot of time in town shopping, and sat on the front porch in the evening talking. So far, so good, right?
Well, not exactly. Because of the drought, the county has been on a burn ban for months. No open flames, period. Mrs. J being the thoughtful, romantic person she is, removed the candles for the tables outside and replaced them with battery powered candle look a likes, complete with flickering "Flame".
Well....
 |
| Apparently, they tried, and succeeded to set it aflame. |
We think alcohol just might have been involved.
So, based on all that, I'm thinking Billy Currington might need to be invoked again.
Peace out, Y'all!
